Ethereum — Shorts High, Price Low

Ethereum is really feeling the bite as its price continues to plummet — ETHUSD shorts soar from all-time lows in August to currently being at an all-time high.

To the Moon and Back

Ethereum has now joined the throng of altcoins that are trading below their pre-November 2017 bull run prices. It is currently experienced an 86 percent pullback from its $1,400 all-time high.

While the other top-ten cryptocurrencies are trading in a range slightly above or below their November 2017 prices, Ethereum has seen the worst. In November 2017, at the dawn of an explosive bull run, Ethereum had nearly reached $400. This past weekend Ethereum was briefly trading at less than $200 — a loss of more than 50 percent since November.

Compounded with the slipping price, shorts on Ethereum skyrocketed from an all-time low two weeks ago, to an all-time high today, topping out at nearly 250,000 ETH.

Proof of Which?

Currently, the Ethereum blockchain runs on a proof of work system in which the miners that secure the network and transactions receive newly minted ETH as a reward.

Ethereum will soon be abandoning the proof-of-work model to shift into a proof of stake system that consists of investors locking away or ‘staking’ Ethereum tokens in order to secure the network. The individuals who stake then earn rewards depending on how many ETH are staked, and the length of time they are staked for.

This transition phase has presumably put more risk on Ethereum as an asset. Moreover, nearly all the companies that are building on the Ethereum blockchain are suffering through the same bear market.

This year continues to act as a prime example of a prolonged bear cycle after steep moonshots across the board in the cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin has shown relatively strong resilience in the face of the bears, and investors are starting to realize there are less short-term risks in moving funds out of Ethereum and projects on the Ethereum blockchain, into Bitcoin.

Do you think Ethereum will continue its downward trend or is a reversal soon to come? Should Ethereum be proof of stake or proof of work? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!